Again, a heartfelt salute to all the actors, animators, directors, writers, composers, designers and artists whose talent was on ample display this past year:

Jeff “Hamsterviel!�? Bennett, Alexis Bledel, Alex Borstein, Barry Bostwick, Albert Brooks, Kristin Chenoweth, Hugh Chitwood, Phil Collins, Tim Conway, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ellen DeGeneres, Johnny Depp, Leslie Dixon, Kirk Douglas, John Fiedler, Charles Fleischer, Victor Garber, Alexander Gould, Heather Hach, Buddy Hackett, Don Hahn, James V. Hart, Byron Howard, Barry Humphries, Jonathan Jackson, Tony Jay, Dean Jones, Ben Kingsley, Keira Knightly, Alex Kupershmidt, Jeff Kurtti, Shia LaBeouf, Bobby Lockwood, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Mancina, Kathleen Marshall, Steve Martin, Mona May, Cameron Monaghan, Rick Moranis, Brian Morris, John Myhre, Bob Peterson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joaquin Phoenix, John Rhys-Davies, Penny Rose, William Ross, Geoffrey Rush, Jay Russell, Chris Sanders, Molly Shannon, Christopher “New George�? Showerman, Sissy Spacek, Terence Stamp, Andrew Stanton, Jeremy Suarez, Cree Summer, Dave Thomas, Khleo “Zero�? Thomas, Jon Voight, Caitlin Wachs, Mark Waters, Sigourney Weaver, Will Young and Robert Zemeckis.

In theaters: the true hockey story Miracle, starring Kurt Russell; the big screen debut of Teacher’s Pet, featuring Nathan Lane; the action-packed horse saga Hidalgo, directed by The Rocketeer’s Joe Johnston and starring Viggo Mortensen; the animated musical-comedy-western Home on the Range, featuring new songs by Alan Menken and starring the voices of Judi Dench, Roseanne Barr, Jennifer Tilly, Randy Quaid and Cuba Gooding, Jr.; the historical epic The Alamo, directed by The Rookie’s John Lee Hancock and starring Dennis Quaid, Jason Patric and Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett; and Pixar’s latest, The Incredibles, directed by The Iron Giant’s Brad Bird and featuring the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter and Samuel L. Jackson. DreamWorks will also be represented with not one but two new all-star animations: Shrek 2 (with Julie Andrews, John Cleese and Antonio Banderas joining Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and John Lithgow) and Shark Tale (starring Will Smith, Robert DeNiro, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie and Martin Scorsese). And Jim Davis’ beloved lasagna-loving cat, Garfield (as voiced by Bill Murray), will make his long-awaited film debut as well.

On video and DVD: Watch for Special Editions of such Disney classics as Alice in Wonderland, Pocahontas, Lilo and Stitch and Mary Poppins, plus the Platinum Edition of Aladdin; the video debuts of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Brother Bear and The Haunted Mansion; and the video debuts of The Lion King 1 ½, Mickey’s Three Musketeers, Mulan II and Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas, not to mention the by-then insanely awaited third Walt Disney Treasures wave: Mickey Mouse in Living Color Volume 2 (21 shorts, up to and including Runaway Brain), The Chronological Donald Volume 1 (35 shorts from 1934 to 1941, including the screen debuts of Daisy Duck and Huey, Dewey and Louie), Tomorrowland: Disney in Space and Beyond (6 nostalgic episodes featuring vintage Ward Kimball animation and Walt’s introduction of EPCOT) and, last but certainly not least, Walt Disney: On the Frontlines, a collection of rarely seen shorts from the infamous ‘war years’, including the Oscar-winning Der Fuehrer’s Face and the full-length feature Victory Through Air Power.

In addition to the many new and Special Edition DVDs, many Disney catalog titles will be released on DVD in the following year, including: Midnight Madness; Return to Oz; Bon Voyage!; The Misadventures of Merlin Jones; Those Calloways; Follow Me, Boys!; Perfect Harmony; Ruby Bridges; Selma, Lord, Selma; The Miracle of the White Stallions; The Gnome-Mobile; Night Crossing; Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride; Miracle at Midnight; Angels in the End Zone; Angels in the Infield; Son of Flubber; Miracle in Lane 2; The Big Green; The Great Locomotive Chase; Now You See Him, Now You Don’t; The Strongest Man in the World; Herbie Rides Again; Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo and Herbie Goes Bananas.

So be sure to ‘toon’ in to Toon Talk for more of the best in Disney film and video in 2004.